Let's Start at Zero
by LicaToRiku
Summary: Twenty seven years into his life, ten years in the best relationship he could ever wish for and an hour and a few minutes after his birthday, Kuroko Tetsuya received another surprise that changed his life yet again.


**A/N: This is the first birthday fic I ever made in my life and I think I royally fucked this up. Anyway I hope you enjoy this fic, and please leave a review! Thank you! This is dedicated to my friends Colorless Sky and Dshirochan; ey mother fuckers make me a fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke**

**Warning: Lame, this is lame.**

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Let's start at Zero

(A Kuroko Tetsuya Birthday Fic)

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When a drunken Aomine started shouting profanities about petty criminals and how they were making his paperwork grow every day, Kuroko knew that his birthday party was already coming to an end. In reality his birthday already ended more than an hour ago but who was he to ruin everybody's festive mood? Of course Kuroko was very thankful to all of his friends for throwing a birthday party for him every year for the past 13 years of his life. One would have thought that someone as invisible as him would be forgotten but they always proved that wrong. The parties were never dull, peaceful or quiet in any sense but they were always unique.

Well unique in a sense that there are traditions that grow and develop as they grow as well; like Aomine bringing the booze when they got legal and of course challenging everyone to drinking contests. Midorima always 'happened' to pass by the area where the party was being held, be it Kagami's apartment, Kuroko's house, some family restaurant and even later on, Kuroko and Kagami's shared apartment, and let's not forget the different ways of how Takao negates Midorima's words every time. There was also Akashi who up to this day never brought a date, but always had to leave before midnight since a few years ago excusing himself about something that was none of anyone's business. It was always Aomine and Kise who begged their old team captain to bring 'that person' and Akashi agreed, if they ever beat him in a game of shogi that is.

Kise wouldn't always be present because of his job schedules but he never forgot to call Kuroko during his birthday, thought Kagami once rejected a call from Kise at 3am in the morning saying "Tetsuya's birthday doesn't start until 7am in the morning, when he's awake.", then rudely slamming the phone down. Kuroko had to pretend he was reprimanding Kagami when Kise was whining to him a few hours later when in reality he would have told Kise off in a far worse manner had he woken up for the blonde's call. Momoi and Himuro would always be the ones to decorate the room and stop Murasakibara from eating Kuroko's birthday cake which still ends in vain since Kuroko is always kind enough to give one half of the usually unusually large cake to its baker.

Kiyoshi and Hyuuga would sometimes agree to bring the karaoke music just to stop Izuki from making puns, his voice was a hundred times better than his jokes. Koganei loved getting into duets with Kise or Takao, the three were all hung up in popular idol music much to everyone's dismay (Read: Midorima and Aomine) or amusement. Riko would be kicked out of the kitchen by Kagami and Mitobe who are of course in charge of cooking the meals, and then when Momoi and Sakurai started dating, which surprised everyone aside from Kuroko by the way, the poor guy was also added to the 'busy bodies in the kitchen who bring good food in our mouths' as Aomine would call them. At first Sakurai tried to protest about kicking out a woman from the kitchen, but one look from the old Seirin members sent him the message that Riko was a far worse cook than Satsuki, and that was something. Much to Kagami's annoyance the man kept apologizing for it and for apologizing too much the whole night, he was close to kicking the other man out as well but Sakurai proved to be an excellent cook so he had to put up with him.

All in all Kuroko's birthdays were always fun, vulgar and even sometimes an occasion where people announced newly formed relationships or just updates on the changes about each other's lives. This in itself made Kuroko genuinely happy, but there was also another thing that made his birthday very special...

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"Kurokocchi! I still want to bond with you more but Daiki's being noisy and I might fall asleep driving if we leave any later, so bye bye! Happy Birthday, again!" Kise said as he supported Aomine who was still heavily intoxicated at one side and Kagami supported the other side.

"Oi Bakagami, you reek of alcohol, damn it!" Aomine shouted as he tried to shove Kagami away. Kise whispered a 'No Daiki you'll fall'.

"Maybe the one you smell is yourself Ahomine." Kagami said in annoyance.

"Excuse me? I'm not drunk at all." Aomine sneered. Kuroko sighed and tapped Aomine's shoulder.

"Aomine-kun, go home you're drunk." He said in perfect monotone before punching Aomine's gut. Aomine passed out in an instant.

"Kurokokocchi, why'd you punch him?!" Kise half shrieked in surprise.

"He's heavier now. Nice punch." Kagami commented with a tinge of amusement.

"Kise-kun, if he isn't passed out yet you'd have a hard time driving home with his little friend hyper like that." Kuroko blatantly said and he eyed Aomine's boner. Kagami and Kise flushed as they dragged Aomine away.

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Kuroko smiled as he closed his apartment door. Kise and Aomine were the last to leave; the party finally ended and he had another pile of gifts by the Christmas tree that was just in the living room all year round. When the two are questioned why they never remove the tree, they both say it was a bother to remove and put it up again every time, but in reality it was one of the manifestations of Kagami's painfully sappy romance. He said it always felt like Christmas with Kuroko around. Well sappiness never hurt anybody, so he just lets Kagami do what he wants.

Kuroko decided that cleaning up right now was not worth it. He had the day off tomorrow, he had all the time in the world to do just that. But the day wasn't finished yet, not for him anyway. He surveyed the area and saw that the dining table didn't have much mess in it. He collected the used plates and placed them in the sink. He went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door and just as he expected there was an untouched box of cake that didn't look like it was from Murasakibara's bakery. He grabbed the strings that held it together with one hand and brought it out then closed the refrigerator door with his other hand. It made a soft 'click'.

"What are you doing mister?" A voice came from the living room; it grew louder as Kagami entered the kitchen. He had a smug look on his face as he eyed the box in Kuroko's hand.

"Preparing for another celebration." Kuroko said as he walked to Kagami and gave the box to him. "Put this in the table." He ordered.

"It already passed January 31st thought. I don't know what you're talking about." Kagami said as he did what he was told.

"Hmmn so we're skipping the tenth year anniversary just because everyone got drunk a little later than usual?" Kuroko asked as he emerged from the kitchen with plates and utensils. Kagami who was already sitting down pulled Kuroko near him after the other placed the plates and utensils randomly on top of the table. Kuroko climbed up his lap with a lazy grin.

"Ten years huh." Kagami said as he looked up at Kuroko who was kneeling at his thighs. Kuroko tilted his head and then kissed Kagami's forehead.

"Yes, ten years. I would have imagined you'd get tired of me by now." He smiled down at Kagami.

"Don't be stupid Tetsuya." Kagami protested as he wrapped his arms around Kuroko's waist and nuzzled Kuroko's chest with his face. "I love you, so much."

"Taiga, I love you too." Kuroko said as he felt a familiar heat creep into his face because of Kagami's words. It wasn't everyday that Kagami would blatantly say 'I love you'. The other man seemed to be good at hinting but never being direct with his meanings, it was a good thing Kuroko was always confident with what he reads in Kagami's actions.

"Hey, you can open the box now." Kagami whispered as he let go of Kuroko's waist and looked up again. He also had a small blush in his face as he smiled brightly at Kuroko.

Kuroko shrugged and stood up. He looked at the red box with a light blue ribbon that held it sealed; it was definitely a cake that Kagami made. The wrapping never changed for 9 years now. This tradition of celebrating their anniversaries after his birthday party started when he turned 17. Halfway through their first year in Seirin it was already a given that Kagami and Kuroko were, but it was never official and even their alone time together stopped at being just friends. They were both painfully too awkward to bring up the conversation or to take it anywhere at all. But when Kuroko spent his Christmas with Kagami the year before he knew that he really wanted more from whatever they had and he would find a way to make it happen.

That year Kagami didn't know it was his birthday, nor did anyone from Seirin for that matter, but the Generation of Miracles knew and so they all planned to treat Kuroko for a birthday bash in a family restaurant that day but Seirin protested. Koganei pointed out that Kagami's apartment is huge and that they should have Mitobe and Kagami cook to make the celebration more special. Kuroko liked that idea. He liked Kagami's cooking and since Kagami didn't have a gift for him, he really did want to request something from his best friend.

When the birthday party ended and everyone left, just like today, Kuroko said he wanted to talk to Kagami. But he didn't 'talk', instead as Kagami slammed the door at Aomine and Kise who wanted to stay the night with Tetsu or Kurokocchi, he pulled the redhead to the couch and just started making out with him. Kagami got the message. It was a nice wild memory that still made Kuroko proud of himself up to this day.

Kuroko removed the ribbon from its knot and opened the box. Kuroko's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the cake. It was just a plain white cake with a simple chocolate text design and nothing else, but it made Kuroko's day better than all of the twenty seven birthdays he had experienced so far.

"Let's start again at zero." He read out. Kuroko snapped his head at Kagami's direction. "Are you…?" Kuroko's voice was weak as he faced Kagami with hopeful eyes.

"Yes. Kuroko Tetsuya, will you marry me?" Kagami asked as he kneeled and produced a small red velvet box. He opened it and revealed a two toned silver and gold band with three small diamonds embossed in the middle.

"Yes. Yes! Of course." Kuroko said as he blinked rapidly to stop a few tears from escaping his eyelids. This was probably his best birthday so far.

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Random Omake:

"You know, Kagami Tetsuya doesn't have a bad ring to it, but Kuroko Taiga just gives me a boner." Kuroko whispered at Kagami's ears in the darkness of their bedroom.

"What?" Kagami asked with confusion in his voice.

"We reverse roles anyway; you should have my surname instead when we get married. O-ne-gai?"

"You're asking for too much!" Kagami barked after a few seconds. Kuroko chuckled.


End file.
